(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power electronic assembly with a heat sink, a power semiconductor module and a circuit arrangement for controlling the power semiconductor module.
Power semiconductor modules and associated circuit arrangements for controlling the power semiconductor modules are currently widely used. They frequently form parts of power supplies, converters, in particular inverters or rectifiers, or other electrical arrangements.
(2) Description of Related Art
It is presently customary to construct so-called stacks (for example, Prime Stacks from in Infinion AG) for each application or for a group of applications. These stacks have a heat sink on which a plurality of power semiconductor modules and the circuit arrangements associated with these powers semiconductor modules for controlling the modules are arranged.
When planning all applications of power electronics, the developer must pay particular attention to the cooling of the power electronic components. Depending on the thermal load, a coolant in liquid or gaseous form may have to be supplied to adequately dissipate heat. The power electronics in conventional applications is cooled individually. This increases the individuality of the assemblies.
The high degree of individuality and particularly the associated development complexity have associated costs which make the finished product more expensive.
This is a starting point for the present invention.
It is the object of the invention to propose a power electronic assembly which offers many possible different applications through different possibilities for adequate cooling.